In mobile telecommunication networks, a payment service has been introduced allowing mobile users to pay for products and services by means of their mobile terminals, instead of using cash, a credit card or similar. This method provides for high security and convenience, and is chiefly attractive for making so-called “micro-payments” involving limited amounts and typically when not being served by a person. Currently, some typical examples of usage include various web services for, e.g., information delivery and downloading of files over the Internet such as ring tones, being particularly popular today. The mobile payment service can also be utilised when paying for physical items in vending machines, travelling tickets, parking fees, etc. In the following description, the general terms “products and services” are intended to represent anything that can be paid for with this service.
Typically, the existing SMS mechanism can be used for this purpose basically in the following manner. A product/service provider may first offer a mobile user to purchase some product or service at a certain price, by the user sending an SMS message containing some specific code or the like associated with the product/service, to a given telephone number associated with the product/service provider. After sending the SMS, the user can be charged later for the purchase by his/her mobile network operator, either in a regular subscription bill or by deduction from a prepaid account.
This mechanism thus relies on a billing relation between the user and his/her mobile network operator, as well as a trusted relation between the mobile network operator and the product/service provider. The term “premium SMS” is often used to denote this service. A similar service called “premium call” is also available for making payments in a similar manner by means of any type of telephone. The user then calls a given telephone number and is prompted to enter some code or the like during the call in order to confirm a purchase. The premium SMS method is generally considered to be the more user-friendly of the two. Another great advantage with these telephone payment methods is that they do not require special functions or modifications in the telephones used, but will work for any legacy telephones.
FIG. 1 illustrates a procedure in an exemplary GSM mobile network for paying a parking fee by means of a mobile terminal A, according to the prior art. Terminal A is currently connected to a mobile home network 100 by means of conventional network elements including a radio base station, not shown. A user of terminal A approaches a parking meter 102, belonging to a parking system managed by means of a parking centre 104, and is offered the option to pay the parking fee by sending a given code “abc” as an SMS message to a given number “71xxx”. A prefix or suffix in the code may be used to indicate a desired parking duration. Payment instructions and rates may be presented on a sign or the like at the parking site.
This number 71xxx has previously been assigned to the parking system 102/104, in a mutual agreement to provide the SMS payment service over the network 104. Hence, the parking system has been registered with network 100 in a register database 106, as an authorised service provider associated with number 71xxx, as schematically indicated by a dashed arrow between 104 and 106. It is common for mobile network operators to reserve entire series in their numbering scheme, typically abbreviated numbers, for “hire” by any potential product/service providers wanting to register as authorised providers of the premium SMS payment service.
After deciding to utilise the offered SMS payment option, the user now opts to send an SMS message 108 according to the given instructions. Terminal A then creates a string containing specific fields of information, including a message field 110 containing the “payload” message abc as entered by the user. Further, a called number field 112 contains the number 71xxx as dialed by the user, and a calling number field 114 is also added presenting the telephone number A of terminal A. Hence, the SMS message 108 basically contains a purchase request according to these fields.
Mobile terminals are configured to further automatically add the address of an SMS centre in their mobile home networks, to all SMS messages in general. In this way, all SMS messages are initially directed to the “home” SMS centre for further delivery to the destination according to the called number. Therefore, terminal A in this case adds a field 116 to the message 108 containing the address “SMSC” of an SMS centre 118 in network 100, being the home network of terminal A as mentioned above.
Accordingly, the accessed network 100 routes the SMS message 108 to SMS centre 118, in a first step 1:1.
Receiving the message 108, SMS centre 118 recognises that this is not an ordinary SMS message addressed to a mobile user, but a purchase request, by reading the called number 71xxx in field 112. In a next illustrated step 1:2, SMS centre 118 compares the called number 71xxx with registered numbers of authorised premium SMS payment service providers in the register database 106. If a match is found, the requested purchase can be admitted and a suitable purchase confirmation is conveyed to the parking centre 104, in a final step 1:3. Thereby, the purchased service can be “delivered” to the user, in this case by activating the parking meter 102, having the same effect as if the user had inserted cash or a credit card or similar, in the parking meter 102. The parking centre 104 may then send some kind of delivery acknowledgement, not shown, back to the SMS centre 118 or other suitable network node.
The purchased service can be charged for in different ways. Typically, the service provider, in this case represented by the parking centre 104, sends a specification to the mobile operator on the amount spent, and the mobile operator in turn adds the amount, along with a suitable remuneration, to a regular subscription bill of the terminal user. Alternatively, a fixed increased call fee for premium SMS calls may be used, covering all expenses for the purchase including a compensation to the network operator, such that a specific bill or report from the service provider would not be needed for each purchase. Settlement can then be made either by giving the service provider a share of the call fees, or by means of a charge specification made by the service provider. The call fee may also be differentiated for plural hired numbers and/or depending on a message embedded in the SMS, thereby enabling different rates for different products/services sold by the same provider.
WO 2005/050575 A1 discloses a system for paying parking fees using mobile telephones, basically in the manner described above. A user sends an SMS message to a dedicated telephone number of the system, the message containing at least the license number of the user's vehicle, a code identifying the parking area, and a password. The user will then be charged for the parking in a regular telephone bill.
However, if the terminal user is not connected to its home network, but is currently accessing a visited mobile network, e.g. when roaming abroad, the premium SMS payment service cannot be used in the latter network for the following reasons. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a terminal A currently roaming in a visited mobile network 200, but belonging to a different home network 200′ by means of subscription, is not able to purchase offered products/services by means of the premium SMS method. If any regular SMS message is sent to another mobile user, the SMS message will always be routed to the home SMS centre first, which then delivers it to the addressed user. If the addressed user is also located in the same visited network, the SMS message would first be routed to the home network and then back to the visited network, sometimes referred to as the “trombone” effect.
Referring to FIG. 2, the user of terminal A attempts to pay a parking fee, as in FIG. 1, by means of premium SMS as offered by a parking system, here merely represented by parking centre 202. In this example, both networks 200 and 200′ include an SMS centre 204 and 204′, respectively. Also, both are capable of providing the SMS payment service to their subscribers on behalf of product/service providers registered in a register database 206 and 206′, respectively. Thus, parking centre 202 is registered as a service provider in register database 206, as indicated by the dotted arrow there between, authorised to offer the SMS payment service, just as parking centre 104 was registered in register database 106 in FIG. 1.
Hence, terminal A sends an SMS message in a first step 2:1 according to given purchase instructions, just as described for FIG. 1 above. However, terminal A is still configured to automatically add the address of the home SMS centre (as field 116 in FIG. 1) to any SMS message, regardless of where it is currently located. When receiving the SMS containing the address of home SMS centre 204′, a suitable switching node (not shown) in the visited network 200, typically an MSC or similar, would accordingly route this message to SMS centre 204′ in home network 200′, in a step 2:2, and not to SMS centre 204 in the visited network where parking centre 202 is actually registered.
Since the parking centre 202 is naturally not registered as a service provider in register database 206′ of the home network, no match will be found in database 206′ when checking the called number 71xxx (as field 112 in FIG. 1), in a step 2:3. Therefore, this step will end the process and no service or product can be delivered since the purchase cannot be confirmed. This failure may of course result in frustration and a cancelled purchase.
In fact, it is possible to manipulate a mobile terminal to change the SMSC address momentarily such that the address of SMS centre 204 in the visited network is added to the SMS message, replacing the home SMS centre 204′ address as automatically configured. However, this is somewhat complicated to do and very few users are likely to know of it, requiring knowledge of the SMS mechanism and the address of the visited SMS Centre. Moreover, changing the SMSC address to the visited SMSC is only relevant to get access to premium SMS payment services in the visited network, and this address must therefore be restored to the home SMSC address afterwards for normal SMS traffic. Another hypothetical possibility would be for product/service providers to register with mobile network operators in foreign countries, but this would require much effort and may not be viable in many cases.
Hence, it is generally a problem that mobile users cannot readily utilise the attractive and convenient premium SMS payment method for making purchases when roaming in a visited mobile network, also resulting in lost revenue for both product/service providers and network operators. The significance of this problem will naturally increase further as this payment service is spread to even more vendors and fields of application, and also due to an increasingly global environment with more roaming terminal users.